The Sword of the LORD

"Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?   Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent."   (John 6:28,29). The works of the flesh should be quite evident to most Christians.   In fact, the apostle Paul tells us as much in Galatians 5:19.   He says the works of the flesh are manifest, openly known, or apparent.   He even lists many of them such as adultery, fornication, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, jealousies, selfish ambitions, envy, murders, and drunkenness.   The Christian, however, must also be concerned about the less apparent things that are just as clearly the works of the flesh.   The very bad things we know we should avoid, but it is the seemingly good things that we plunge headlong into.   We call them good deeds, Christian ministry, and godly service; but in many cases they are self-directed and the result of self-righteousness and self-effort. When the crowd

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.   And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind , that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."   (Romans 12:1, 2). St. Paul issues a solemn exhortation to the church in Rome in this twelfth chapter of Romans.   He warns them not to be conformed to this world, but instead, to be transformed by the renewing of their minds.   The Greek word that is translated "conformed" in this passage means to conform oneself to, or fashion oneself after, another's pattern.   I have often thought of this conforming to the world as meaning that we should not copy the evil practices of the world.   The lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life are clearly "of the world" and to be avoided; but there is so

" And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God."   (Revelation 21:3).   There are those who might be surprised to learn that the Bible refers specifically to six distinct temples of God. There are the four most obvious, which are: Moses' tabernacle in the wilderness which God commanded Israel to build after they made their exodus from Egypt; Solomon's great temple in Jerusalem; Ezra's temple which was built by the children of the captivity when they returned from Babylon;   and Herod's temple which stood during the time of Christ and was destroyed by the Romans.   The other two temples are less obvious because they are less visible to the natural eye.   The first of these is the temple of God in the heavens after which every other temple has been patterned.   "The point of what we are sayin

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do , forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."   (Philippians 3:13, 14). One of the things that cripples people most in their present lives is not properly dealing with their past.   Our personal history can drastically alter the way we think, feel, and act in given situations.   It shapes our attitudes about ourselves and about others.   It can breed guilt, depression, anxiety, anger, impatience, and sorrow on the one hand, and pride, arrogance, and a false sense of one's own worth on the other.   It can trigger a whole host of emotional responses in us that would seem strange or unwarranted to the casual observer.   Often, even we can't explain our behavior. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippian church tells us that there is one thing th

"And He [Jesus] saith unto them, Follow Me , and I will make you fishers of men.   And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him.   And going on from thence, He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.   And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed Him. "   (Matthew 4:22).   "And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He saith unto him, Follow Me . And he arose, and followed Him."   (Matthew 9:9).   God's call on our lives can be boiled down to this one simple invitation, "Follow Me."   How we choose to respond to this invitation will determine our spiritual health from that point on in our lives.   It is the very essence of the gospel message and is the fountainhead of streams of living water.   As the Lord Jesus walked the shores o

"Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it .   Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.   But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?   Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.   The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.   It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.   It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.   Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?"   (Job 28:1, 2, 12-16, 20). In this 28th chapter of the book of the Bible that is named for him, Job is merely vocalizing something which men have wondered about since the beginning of their history on earth.   "Where shall wisdom be found?"   If metals, both precious and common, can be found in secret veins that run through solid r

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."   (Psalm 118:24).   There is a well-known praise chorus that uses the words of Psalm 118 quoted above.   I have been reminded of this chorus on beautiful, sun-shiny mornings when it has seemed that all was right with the world, but I have never thought of it until recently in regards to the days when things just seem to fall apart.   These words are usually the last thing on my mind when I wake up late for an appointment, spill milk all over the counter and floor, and run out to my car and find it won't start.   As my wife recently quipped, it's then that a day is like a thousand years with the Lord!   Oddly enough, though, this 118th Psalm isn't about the apparent blessings of life at all.   It is about the struggles and how God is ever faithful to bring His servants through them.   Listen to some of David's words in this Psalm.   They are not words of despair, but wor